Game On
by Trojevia
Summary: A hacker inserts a glitch into Seto's virtual world, trapping Mokuba inside. Seto enlists the help of Yugi, Joey, and Kisara, whose younger sister is trapped inside as well, to rescue him. Read and Review.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Yugioh.**

"It's all my fault," I said rubbing my hands through my hair.

"But Mr. Kaiba," Roland began.

"I let him be the beta tester for the new Duel Pod."

"It was his choice. You couldn't have stopped him if you wanted to."

I sighed as Doctor Ross walked in.

"Sir?"

"How is he?" I demanded.

"His vitals are normal right now. I would suggest moving him-"

"No. It's too risky removing him from the Pod while his mind is still in the system. It could ruin his neurological capabilities if we take him out. His consciousness is still in the system, so if we take him out, he may never wake up, but it needs his memories to back it up if the system fails. He's not going anywhere."

"But what if something happens while he's still in there?"

"Sanitize the area and do whatever it takes to save him."

"I understand," Dr. Ross said, backing away.

"Mr. Kaiba," Roland said.

"What now?" I was getting a migraine.

"There's another victim from Industrial Illusions."

"Having another victim won't bring Mokuba back!" I snapped.

The phone rang. To give me a moment to calm down, Roland answered it.

"Hello?"

I recognized the answering voice, which doubled the pain of my migraine.

"Hel-lo? You're not Kaiba-boy, are you?"

My temper got the better of me, and I snatched the phone from Roland's hand.

"What do you want, Pegasus?"

"My, my, someone's in a bad mood!"

"I'm about to hang up right now. I have no patience streak, so make it quick."

"My condolences, Kaiba-boy. I've heard about Mokuba."

I took a deep breath, trying not to crush the phone in my hand. "I'm not on the phone to hear your false sympathy, Cyclops. State your business or I'll dissect you alive for that glitch you put in the system."

"I didn't put that glitch in the system."

"Oh really? Who else would put Toon World in the simulation? Zigfried von Schroeder?"

"It's true that it was my idea for Toon World to be a part of your virtual world, _but_, and listen here, Kaiba-boy. In the computer-controlled simulation, it was too glitched, so I scrapped the idea. Someone from my programming department must have kept the file for further use, perhaps to refine it so it could eventually be added. I don't know, but I think I do know who uploaded Toon World to your game."

"Who?"

"I believe it was a man named Ash Kai. He was fired for hacking into some of my other employees' files. Apparently, he knew the password to get into the game files and put Toon World back in to get revenge on me for firing him. It has cost you so dearly."

"What does Ash Kai look like? I want to know what kind of person to look for so if I see someone of his description on the streets, I can justify assault and battery."

"Now, now Kaiba-boy. We mustn't get violent with random strangers we see on the side of the road."

"Why are you even telling me this?"

"We agreed to work together on that virtual world of yours. You would come up with the main design; I would work on the monsters and their special abilities. I propose another business partnership of a more personal nature."

"Oh?"

"You may have heard about a victim from my company. She's around Mokuba's age. Her name is Kris Frost. I propose that you enter your virtual world to rescue the two damsels in distress…"

"Are you calling Mokuba weak?

"He has been kidnapped many times before."

"At least one of which was conspired by you. And why should I even trust you, Pegasus? You conspired with the Big Five to trap me in my own virtual world before."

"Because I'm a suspect."

"That's reassuring."

"It should be. If I'm a suspect and there is another victim, I'll very likely be arrested. Since I want to avoid being arrested at all costs, I should be off your list of culprits."

"Why are you even interested in helping me?"

"Because I'd much rather this story not get out to the media, and the fewer people involved, the better. And slap me thrice and hand me to my mother if I haven't grown fond of you over the years, Kaiba-boy."

"Sorry, Pegasus. I'm into women."

There was a pause. "That hit a little too far below the belt. And speaking of women," Pegasus started, but I interrupted him.

"I doubt you have any balls. Are you sure that would hurt?"

He ignored my comment and continued, "As I was saying, I was going to have one of my employees go along with you to rescue her little sister."

"So the other victim has an older sibling to rescue her. How do I know you're not trying to set me up? I wouldn't put it past you."

"If that happened, it would just be an added bonus."

I sighed. "What's her name?"

"Kisara Frost. There's something about her I think would interest you."

I rolled my eyes. "What?"

"She's like a human version of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

_No. Impossible. She _can't _have been reincarnated._

I made a noncommittal noise in the back of my throat.

"I know you're more interested than you sound, Kaiba-boy. You and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon go back thousands of years. Yugi told me all about the Nameless Pharaoh's journey back to the afterlife and how you had to fight Zorc in the past."

"For all you know, he might have tried drugs for the first time."

"Don't play dumb with me, Seto."

"We're _not _on first-name terms, Pegasus."

"So be it, Kaiba-boy. So, when were you thinking of entering your virtual world with dear Kisara?"

"It's about three here and ten at night in California."

"I can read clocks, Kaiba-boy."

"I want to log on as soon as possible. Unless she's going to your HQ right now, I'm not waiting on anything."

"She's already here. Maybe I'll let her talk to you and let you two get to know each other."

I heard voices in the background, but the softer of the two was unintelligible; the girl was too quiet to understand well. It seemed strange that her past life was the keeper of the most powerful Ka in existence.

"Oh well. I guess she's too shy to talk to you."

She spoke again in the background. Pegasus seemed to think whatever she said was a good idea.

"She wants to know if you should meet up somewhere in the virtual world. I think it's a great idea. She has a good deck, augmented by cards I gave her, but she doesn't get to use it much. Your skills could make up for her… inexperience."

I heard faint protest in the background.

"Where would we meet up in the virtual world?"

"The starting town near the fountain in the village square."

"How will I know who she is?"

"Trust me. You'll know who she is when you see her."

"When do we meet?"

"In one hour. Prepare your deck wisely."

I hung up, not honoring Pegasus with a polite goodbye.

One hour. Sixty minutes to have a crash dummy to verify my Pod's safety before I entered myself. Who would I send?

Wheeler. Maybe Muto, too.

I called the Kame Game Shop.

"Kame Game Shop. Yugi speaking."

"Yugi."

"Oh, hi, Kaiba."

"I need a favor. You and Wheeler pack your decks. You're hired as beta testers for my Duel Pod; I pay well. See you in thirty minutes," I hung up. I didn't want to talk with anyone after dealing with Pegasus's flamboyant mannerisms.

Thirty minutes before I would know if I could rescue Mokuba or not. The clock was ticking…

**Review, please.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Yu-gi-oh.**

The thirty minutes didn't pass by quickly enough.

When Wheeler arrived with Yugi, he couldn't shut up about anything. I was considering setting security on him with duct tape to cease the endless jabbering.

"So, how much are ya payin' me? Huh? Huh? HUH?"

"The longer you last, the more I pay," I said. "You also get a 5 percent increase if you shut up until we get there."

It worked like magic.

Roland was waiting by my lab. I was careful that we came in the way we wouldn't see Mokuba. A nurse took our vitals, and then they sat in their pods. I made sure to upload Wheeler's mind first; his was the least valuable. I had to keep Yugi's mind intact if I was to take his title.

"Upload in 3… 2… 1… begin," the computer said. I saw Wheeler fall limp and his icon appear on the screen performing a wide variety of stunts.

"Not bad, huh, Rich Boy?"

I smirked and walked over to the touch screen. I grabbed Wheeler's icon and started moving him around before dropping him. Then I double-tapped his icon and selected "change outfit", removing his normal clothes and putting on a dog suit. The mutt whined in protest the whole time.

"Don't be cruel, Kaiba," Yugi said before I uploaded his mind.

"I'm not."

Yugi's icon appeared next to Wheeler's. I considered toying with him, too, but I thought better of it and gave them their instructions.

"Head to the town. Follow that path to your left until you reach the village. I'll meet you there by the fountain. I'll just make sure everything's working with the software. Also, let's go by the names of our dragons we used to fight Dartz."

"Okay, Kaiba," Yugi agreed.

"I don't wanna stay in this dog suit," Joey wailed.

"Would you rather have your previous outfit for the game?"

"Yes!"

I double-tapped Wheeler's icon again and gave him the animal skin he wore the last time he was in my virtual world.

"Now dat's just unfair," his icon said, scowling at me. "I want my real clothes!"

"If you can make it to the town without dying, I'll let you wear them again."

"Let's go, Yug. The less I have ta wear this, the better!"

He headed in the wrong direction.

"Wrong way, mutt. Have you lost your sense of smell?"

"I'll show you, Kaiba."

He headed the right way this time.

"I'll monitor things and make sure they work. Like I said, I'll meet you by the fountain."

I watched closely, looking for any signs of the Toon World glitch that were present when Mokuba disappeared. So far, I found none.

I looked at the clock. Two minutes until I had to meet by the fountain.

"Roland, go ahead and upload my mind at the fountain. I can't see any signs of the glitch."

"Sir," he replied.

I sat in the Pod next to Mokuba's waiting for the upload to proceed.

"Upload in 3… 2… 1… begin."

The transition from my body to the virtual world was as smooth as ever. I landed in the plaza; few of the virtual people noticed my arrival, and only one came over to me. She was wearing a dull red skirt and a white blouse.

"You look lost. Here's a map to help you with your travels. Safe journeys, and be sure to explore our town. We have a lot to offer."

That went right. The first thing you were supposed to get in the town was a map, although with the glitch, I wasn't sure that the map could be trusted. I took a glance at it just to see if it had changed. To my surprise, it had. The continents were the same, but there was a new island. Toon World.

There was a flash behind me, and I saw the back of a girl's head. Her hair was a stunning white with ice blue undertones. Her skin was pale; it looked like she needed more sun. She was wearing an ice blue exercise shirt and dark wash jeans with flare leggings. She wore silver and blue sneakers. When she turned around, I noticed a pendant with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

_How fitting._

I walked up to her to introduce myself. It was the polite thing to do.

"Seto Kaiba, it's an honor to meet you," she dipped her head politely in greeting.

"I see you know who I am. What's your name again?"

"Kisara Frost. I wasn't expecting you to enter your virtual world yourself."

There was an awkward pause.

"Where do we head?" she said after a while.

"We're still waiting on two people."

"Who are they?"

"Yugi Muto himself and some caveman."

"Caveman?" she looked puzzled.

"Don't ask."

"I won't." She seemed unnerved.

There was another moment of awkward silence before I broke it.

"We should probably get supplies. We actually need sustenance in this place."

"Do you have any money?"

I slapped my forehead. "We need to find the old lady in a blue rocking chair. She's somewhere this way."

We walked in silence before I remembered Yugi and Joey.

"The two might be here now. I told them to meet me at the fountain."

"So are we going back?"

"We're almost there. You go see her and ask for four backpacks and four wallets. You'll have to do some manual work, but tell her there will be three others joining you."

"Okay. Where is she?"

"She's right there," I pointed at a house that needed some repairs.

"So you'll meet up with me, right?"

"Right. I'll be back."

"Okay."

I walked back to the fountain, hoping they would be there. Even though it was a virtual world and shouldn't pose a threat to anyone, I still didn't feel comfortable leaving the girl alone for long.

"RICH BOY! WHERE'VE YA BEEN?" the mutt yelled. His animal skin had a small rip in the side.

"Working on getting supplies."

"Supplies?"

"Yes, Wheeler. Normal people have to eat."

"It's pretty realistic," Yugi said.

He paused for a second. "Do we have to take a dump here, too?"

Yugi slapped his forehead.

"Hopefully not in the middle of the village square," I replied.

"Let's go get supplies, Joey," Yugi said.

"We can't buy anything with no money, and we can't store anything without a pack. You'll get to do some manual work to earn them," I pointed out.

"Where are we going?"

"We're meeting up with Kisara."

"Kisara? Isn't that…" Yugi began.

"No. She's not the same person."

"What? I'm lost," Joey said.

"I learned about her from Yami's memories," Yugi said.

"So who is she?"

"It's not my place to tell you. If anything, it's his," Yugi gestured to me.

"I'm not talking," I said bluntly.

"There you have it," Yugi said.

To steer any conversation about past lives away, I said, "We're almost there."

"Whoa! Look at how run-down that house is!" Joey said.

"That's where we're headed. Fix the house up a bit, and the old lady who lives here will give us packs, wallets, and money."

An old lady walked out the door. "Are you the three men that young lady said would fix my house?"

"I guess so," Yugi said.

"Well good. I have lots of work fer you, so come inside."

We all walked into the house with creaky floors.

"You can replace my window upstairs."

Yugi and Joey started, but she stopped Joey.

"It only needs one of yeh ta get the job done. What's yer name?" she gestured to him.

"Jo-Hermos," Wheeler corrected himself.

"Well, Jo-Hermos, you can fix that window. And you?" she gestured to me.

"Critias."

"Critias, move my furniture around so the lady can sweep. You, mister," she gestured to Yugi, "you can nail in the loose floorboards. Yeh'll find a hammer in one of them drawers there. What's yer name?"

"Timaeus."

"Intristing names yeh three got there."

"Yeah."

"Almos' as intristing as that lass's name. Kiss-sa-ruh. What odd taste."

"Mmhmm," I grunted, getting to work with furniture.

"Yer a strong young man," she commented.

"I try to be," I said, shifting a chair.

"Yeh best take good care of the lady."

"I'll try."

It was a few minutes of shifting furniture in the house when the girl entered with a broom and dustpan. Her hair had been tied back with a faded pink bandanna. Pink wasn't a bad color on her.

_Wait. Why do I even care what looks good on her?_

"Hi," she said shyly.

"Hey," I continued moving chairs for her to sweep.

"I finished the dishes while you were gone."

"Sorry I took so long."

"It's fine. I saw the caveman."

I had forgotten I called Wheeler a caveman. I chuckled to myself.

"I've seen him somewhere before," she continued.

"He placed fourth in the Battle City Tournament. His name's Joey Wheeler."

"That's where I'd seen him."

I could tell she was shy, if not socially awkward.

She continued. "Yugi Muto's a lot shorter than I thought he'd be."

"He is pretty short," I agreed. "You should have seen him when he was a freshman. Half of his height was his hair."

"How does he keep it in that style?"

I shrugged. "He probably uses three bottles of hair gel per day."

She giggled shyly and continued to sweep as we talked about random things, always with awkward pauses between. She didn't seem to make good conversation easily.

Yugi came in with a hammer and some pieces of wood. "She said she wants me to build a shelf. The thing is, she doesn't have any more nails, and she asked you to buy some."

I nodded. "I know where to get some, but I need money."

The old woman wandered back into our room. "Yeh need money? I can give yeh some. Tell yeh what, I'll have you and the lady do my grocery shopping. If there's any money leftover, you can keep it. Here's a wallet fer each of yeh. Oh, and yeh'll need packs to carry my stuff. I'll be right back."

The old woman slowly climbed up the stairs and came down with two packs and wallets.

"Here yeh are. Oh, an' my list is in the lady's pack. The money's already in the wallets."

"We'll need some packs and wallets for the other two."

"Oh, yes, Timaeus and Jo-Hermos. When you're out, buy some fer them two. I don't have no more. I'll throw in a little more money towards their packs. You two run along," she said, handing us extra cash.

We stopped on her porch to see what the list had (various foods, paint, and nails).

"So, where do we find this stuff?" she asked.

"There's a general store at the village square with good prices, but if you go to individual shops or stalls, you'll normally find the items at better prices. They just won't all be in the same place."

"Should we split up?"

"No. I know where everything is, and it would be hard to find you if you got lost."

"Where are we going first?"

"We'll stop by the food market, then we'll go to the hardware store."

"Okay."

We walked down the creaky steps and back into the village center. I led the way, constantly checking back to make sure she was right behind me.

A thought occurred to me as I was leading her to the market. _Why was I so protective of her? _I had never even seen Kisara Frost before, so why did I feel a connection to her, a need to keep her safe?

Sensations flashed across my memory: a young, pale girl trapped in a cage in a camp full of bandits while righteous anger filled my entire being. Sneaking into the camp past the drunken bandits and picking the lock. One of the bandits approaching her cage as I got her out, and my disgust at his facial expression while he looked at the girl. Running away from the bandits and mounting my horse. Riding for our lives before I decided she was safe enough for me to leave. Turning around and seeing my village on fire. Running as fast as I could while more and more buildings caught aflame. Being captured by one of the bandits and forced to watch them burn down my house, killing my mother. Then a glorious white dragon appearing above my head and breathing a powerful blast of white lightning at the now fleeing bandits, then hearing an earth-shaking roar as the dragon flew away into the night.

Years later, arresting a criminal ranting about a white dragon. Thoughts of the girl I had saved racing through my head. Seeing a commotion and peasants stoning someone, shouting "witch" over and over again. Intervening because murder was punishable by death, and because some part of me desperately wanted to find her again. Shock freezing me for a few seconds when I saw her again. Bringing her to the palace and scaring off the mob by threatening to imprison them. Sending a few guards to chase the villagers so the message would stick.

Visiting her while she was recovering from a head injury from one of the stones. Touching her cheek to see if it really was her, to know if she was real. Leaving once I was satisfied she would be safe.

Horror filling me when a servant took me to the dungeons to watch prisoners fight with their Kas, and seeing her quivering in a cage. Anger when they forced her onto one of the platforms and trapped her there to face off against two prisoners. Jumping onto the platform to save her as I summoned _my _Ka, Duos. Horror when Duos cut the chains holding our platform as well as the other platforms. Grabbing her hand (something I had wanted to do for a long time) to save her from the bottomless pit. Horror when I saw that one prisoner had survived and tangled Duos with his bug Ka. Terror when he ordered the bug to eat us. A warm energy coming from the girl as a green light surrounded her. The light turning white and a mist condensing to form the white dragon that had saved my life so many years ago. The great and terrible power that emanated from the white lightning in the beast's gaping maw as it destroyed the prisoner, his Ka, and part of the castle. Ordering a guard to carry the now unconscious girl to her chambers. Disgust as Aknadin suggested me using the girl to usurp the throne.

Several nights of spending time with the girl. Learning that her name was Kisara.

Joy at seeing Kisara at the temple, and fear for her safety. An overwhelming desire to protect her from Aknadin, who, incidentally, was my father. Anger when he blocked our path with huge boulders. Summoning Duos to cut a path for us to flee. Horror when Aknadin _flew_ over us to block our path. Terror as he summoned his new Ka, whatever it was. Pain as it destroyed Duos. Affection as she summoned the white dragon to defend us. Dismay as Aknadin put a spell on her dragon that dragged it towards a stone slab. Bracing myself for an impact from Aknadin's Ka. Pure horror as Kisara jumped in front of me to take the hit for me. Misery when I saw severe bleeding on her chest. Torture as she placed her hand on my cheek and weakly said my name before dying.

Unequaled fury as I pulled out a knife and stabbed Aknadin to avenge her. Dread as his spirit, instead of departing to the afterlife, possessed me. Misery as I watched Aknadin use Kisara, whose spirit inhabited the dragon now, fight the Pharaoh, my cousin. Building up all my strength to command Kisara to stop. Solace when she heard my command. Jubilation as the white dragon disappeared from the outside world and reappeared inside my soul and destroyed Aknadin for good. Comfort when she spoke to me within my mind and replaced Duos as my Ka with herself. Love as we were finally one. Grief as I held her body in front of the stone tablet of the white dragon. Tears, the only ones I would shed in my entire adulthood as I mourned her loss.

* * *

"Are you okay?" Kisara asked.

I snapped out of my reverie, thanks to my past life showing me visions of his life. I still didn't get why any of my incarnations would wear that stupid hat.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"You looked sort of… out of it."

"I was just in deep thought."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive." I said.

"Okay," she said uncertainly.

I took a quick glance at her to analyze her. She looked painfully like the Kisara in his time. She was shy, like that Kisara, but I still didn't know her well enough to know if she had the kind of inner strength that his Kisara possessed.

Yugi and all the others seemed to believe in fate, even though I was skeptical of it. If fate really did exist, then did we really have a choice in anything we did? Ishizu had always said that what happened in the past would happen again. If that was the case, could I really fall in love?

_Not a chance. I'm Seto freaking Kaiba._

But assuming by some miracle I did, would I be able to protect Kisara this time around?

Only time would tell…

**So Seto has met Kisara for the first time.**

**I know I used a lot of sentence fragments in the middle, but it was to convey the sensations that came over him, like they were passing by quickly.**

**Review, please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**I don't own Yu-gi-oh.**

My company and Industrial Illusions had really done a number on making the village realistic. The aromas coming from the market and bakeries were spot-on. Whenever a cow or donkey passed, it smelled completely lifelike.

Farmers and merchants were selling their wares with catchy slogans. For the most part, Kisara and I ignored their constant advertising, but after we bought the old lady's things, I treated her to a lychee and some guava. She seemed to like fruit a lot. I didn't eat anything; I wanted to save our money for non-perishable foods that would last longer on our search for Mokuba and her younger sister.

"Tell me more about your younger sister," I said on the way back.

"Kris… where do I begin… Kris is a tomboy, though she does have a girly side to her. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She's about four-and-a-half feet tall. She's always liked things having to do with Native Americans. I wouldn't be surprised if we found her with face paint and feathers in her hair."

I nodded. "What kind of deck does she use?"

"It's really mixed. She has a lot of beasts and winged beasts, but she really likes a card I gave her. It's a rare card, and somehow I managed to get two."

"What card?"

"Guardian Eatos."

Images flashed to Rafael and his trump card. I was amazed (and envious) that anyone but me could defeat Yugi fairly in a duel.

"How did you get a hold of two?"

"I found one in a booster pack. Then when I joined Industrial Illusions, Mr. Pegasus gave me a bunch of rare cards, including Eatos. I actually have two decks, and Eatos is in the one I'm more familiar with."

"What kind of decks do you have?"

"I have a fairy deck and a dragon deck."

_I knew one had to be a dragon deck. It's almost a shame Pegasus only made four Blue-Eyes White Dragons and that I ripped one of them to shreds._

"So you prefer the fairy deck?"

"Yeah. A lot of the rare cards Pegasus gave me went into the dragon deck. I haven't had much of a chance to use the dragon deck, and I feel like I've put more of my heart into my fairy deck, like it's almost as if I know my fairy cards better."

I noticed that she was finally starting to get comfortable with my presence. Those were the longest sentences I heard her say so far. What I didn't like was that she seemed to believe in the heart of the cards that Yugi droned on about.

"Is Eatos in your fairy deck?"

"Yeah."

Now she was back to one-word answers. There was a pause before she spoke up again. "What card is hanging around your neck?"

"It's not a Duel Monsters card. It's a locket I had custom made to look like a card, but the inside has a picture of my little brother as a kid," I showed her Mokuba's picture.

"He looks a lot like you," she commented. "You have the same eye shape and nose, but his mouth looks a little different. It's the same shape, but it looks happier."

I gave her a stern look that seemed to frighten her. She didn't say anything until long after we got back to the old lady's house, and even then, she said as little as possible. I hadn't really meant to make her feel that bad, but if Gozaburo Kaiba raises you, any people skills you might have had go out the window.

That night, the old woman let us sleep at her house as payment for cleaning and fixing her house. Wheeler tried to take the bed in the guest room, but the old woman hounded him and made him sleep on the floor in the small living room; Kisara was given the bed. Yugi slept on the recliner, and I took the couch, though it was a little short for my height.

I couldn't sleep; Wheeler snored very loudly. I wasn't sure how Yugi put up with the horrendous amount of noise those vocal cords put out. In the end, I used a spell card, Silent Doom, to shut him up. Some spell cards worked differently in battle than outside of battle, and this was one of those cards. I felt a loss of mana points (magic) as I used it, but the drain wasn't too bad.

Spell cards and trap cards cost mana points to use, and some drained more than others. You used mana to summon monsters, too. Then you had life points. You started with 10000 life points, and if you got to zero, it was game over unless someone used Monster Reborn on you or another card with a similar effect. You could regain life points and mana by eating, resting, or using certain spell and trap cards. You could convert mana to life points and vice versa, although you would only gain half of what you converted from one form to the other (example: You converted 1000 life points to mana: you would only get 500 mana). Summoning monsters cost their level times 150 (Blue-Eyes White Dragon would cost 1200 mana to summon). You had a maximum of 10000 mana, but your default level of mana was 5000.

Dueling did rely on attack and defense points, but it was closer to how the duels in Egypt were carried out. A weaker monster could kill a stronger one by hitting vital points or attacking enough. Terrain played a big part in deciding outcomes of duels.

When I finally got to sleep, I had strange dreams of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

I woke up to an incessant prodding on my forehead. Irritated, I opened one eye to find Wheeler babbling (silently) and jumping around. Even his jumping didn't make any noise.

Yugi was looking at me like he knew I did something.

"What did you do, Kaiba?"

"I used Silent Doom on him."

"WHAT? He died?"

"No. Spell cards can have more than one effect. Silent Doom will silence something outside of battle. I couldn't deal with his snoring."

Wheeler shouted something (or tried to), but even though he was silent, I pretty much knew what he was going to say.

"Honestly, I like you much better when you can't say anything," I replied.

This sent him into a (silent) rage.

"Kaiba, change him back," Yugi said sternly. If he still had the Millennium Puzzle, I would have expected him to change into the "Pharaoh", or so said. It took me ages to believe that an ancient spirit possessed him every now and then, and I only really believed it when I saw his final duel against Yugi when they split apart and had two separate decks.

"Fine," I said, releasing the spell.

My ears immediately began to hurt as Wheeler screamed.

"THAT'S RIGHT! YOUR BLUE-EYES IS JUST AN ALBINO LIZARD BAT-THING!"

"You don't even know how to string a proper insult. And an albino lizard-bat always beats an inbred mongrel pup in a fight."

"YOU WANNA PIECE OF ME? I'LL TEAR OFF YOUR-"

"Shut _up_. You'll wake the entire town," I said sternly.

"They're probably already up," Yugi muttered dryly.

I looked at the clock in the old lady's house. It was 9:00 in the morning. Sleeping in was nice, even for just three hours.

"You might be right, Yugi. This is a farming village. They tend to get up early to work in the fields."

"Where's Kisara?" Yugi asked.

"I don't know. She might be asleep, though I don't know how anyone could sleep with all that noise."

"I've been awake for some time."

I looked at the doorway she entered from. She hadn't brushed her hair yet, and I was shocked at the amount of tangles that could appear on one head. She had her bandanna covering the top of her head to hide some of them. Her blue shirt and pants were covered in flour and had some wrinkles.

"What have you been doing?" I asked.

"Making breakfast."

Wheeler interrupted. "FOOD!"

Everyone else in the room grimaced and rushed their hands to their ears.

"It's still cooking," she said, risking her hearing by lowering her hands.

"How long have you been up?" Yugi asked.

"About three hours."

"Three hours?"

"I get up to watch the sunrise."

"So what's for breakfast?" Joey asked.

"Can't you think of anything besides your next meal?" I snapped.

"Not right now."

"Must be the inbreeding," I muttered.

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?" his voice rose again.

Yugi, the shortest out of all of us, pushed us apart. "Guys, we need to work as a team. Kaiba knows his way around this virtual world, and he knows how everything's supposed to be. If you kill him off, there goes our tour guide."

"You think this is a vacation?" Kisara's voice rose for the first time.

Yugi picked up on the anger in her voice. "What's wrong?"

"You don't understand the _technicalities_ associated with this virtual world."

I stopped her from elaborating on the real reason I brought them in the virtual world in the first place with one of my death glares. She took one step back, but a defiant look still showed on her face.

"What technicalities?" Yugi asked, unaware of my death glare aimed at Kisara.

"Let's just say that we're all beta testers. The system still isn't perfect, so you can potentially get trapped in the virtual world with no escape," I answered for her.

"Is there any particular reason you forgot to mention this to us?" Joey asked, his cheeks flaring with color.

"Must have slipped my mind," I said.

"Yeah right," Wheeler's forehead vein was throbbing.

"Besides, you should have figured that out with the Noah incident."

Now Kisara looked puzzled. "Noah incident?"

"It's not important," I said.

"I think you should tell her, jerk wad," Wheeler said.

"Maybe over breakfast."

"That reminds me! I've got to check on the bread!" Kisara ran back to the kitchen.

Wheeler must have thought it was time to make an inappropriate joke. "Woman, while you're in the kitchen, could you make me a sandwich?"

Evidently, Kisara was still angry. A well-aimed egg hit him square in the face and shut him up.

I wouldn't admit while I was so agitated, but I was starting to respect her.

"Next time, it'll be a knuckle sandwich," she said.

Scratch that. I did respect her. She was slowly starting to work her way on my good side. Getting after Wheeler didn't hurt her case.

We followed her into the kitchen. There were five chairs around a round table made of old, rotting wood.

"Where's the old lady?" Yugi asked.

"She said she was leaving for some social thing," Kisara answered, setting the table.

I examined the dishes. They were a plain white glazed ceramic, typical of peasants like the old lady.

"What's for breakfast?" Wheeler asked.

"Homemade bread and eggs."

"Sweet."

"Well, for you it's just bread."

"What?"

"You already had your egg."

I couldn't help it. A short chuckle burst out of me.

"Nyeh?" Wheeler looked astounded.

"What?"

"Every time you smile, a puppy dies."

"Shame it hasn't worked on you yet."

"What was that?"

"Alright, guys, calm down!" Yugi was getting exasperated. "Do you want to eat or not?"

"Food," Wheeler drooled.

Did Wheeler have ADHD? I wouldn't have put it past him.

Disgusted with how he stuffed his face, I tried to focus on my own food. Kisara was a good cook, though I wasn't going to compliment her out loud. I would only compliment Mokuba and occasionally Roland.

_Mokuba._

"Are you alright, Kaiba?" Yugi asked.

"I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine."

"I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to tell her about Noah."

"Thinking about Noah doesn't make you that depressed. I know you better than you think."

"It's a personal matter that I'm not going to discuss with you."

Kisara gave me a knowing look, but I stopped her from saying anything about Mokuba and her little sister by telling her about what happened at Battle City with Noah.

"So, it started in the middle of the Battle City Tournament…"

**Yes, I know it's sort of a lousy ending, but I figured you wanted an update, and this was the best breaking point. Tell me what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4

I DON'T OWN YUGIOH.

We sat in silence after I told Kisara about Noah.

"So, he was your adopted brother? And Gozaburo Kaiba only adopted you to make you his host?" she asked.

"Something like that. I'm not sure what he would have done to Mokuba," I said.

"How is Mokuba?" Yugi asked. "I didn't see him."

"He's asleep. He hit puberty, and it's making him drowsier than he used to be." I omitted the fact that he was "asleep" because he was trapped in the virtual world.

Yugi nodded, believing my half-truth.

"So, how does time pass in the virtual world compared to the real world?"

"It's like real time until you go to sleep. The Duel Pods insert IV's loaded with essential nutrients so you're not going to die if you stay for a month inside the Duel Pod. However, not eating in the game will make you lose health and mana."

"What's mana?" Wheeler asked.

"The virtual world is slightly different than the last time you and Yugi were here." I proceeded to explain how the virtual world worked.

After a while, Yugi said, "That is different from when we were last here."

I nodded.

Yugi took a sip of water. "So, in video games, there's always a point to them, normally defeating a final boss to save the world. What exactly is the purpose of this virtual world?"

"It's a rescue mission."

"Who are we savin'?" Wheeler asked.

"Right now, it's not important who we're saving. It's that we accomplish the mission and get out of here."

"What, you scared of your own virtual world?" Wheeler taunted.

That statement seemed to spark an interest in Yugi, though he didn't comment.

"Pegasus is monitoring from Industrial Illusions. The less we have to do with each other, the better," I said.

"Pegasus? What does he have to do with this?" Yugi frowned.

Kisara answered for me. "Mr. Pegasus is Mr. Kaiba's business partner for the Duel Pod. The money is split 60-40 in your favor, right?" she asked me.

"70-30. I mainly joined forces with Industrial Illusions so I didn't have to make the models for most of the Duel Monsters, something which would take months, if not years for KaibaCorp with all our other affairs."

"So when do we get supplies?" Wheeler asked. "I wanna get outta this stupid animal skin."

He paused. "HEY, RICH BOY! YOU SAID I COULD HAVE MY CLOTHES BACK WHEN I GOT TO TOWN! I'M TIRED OF DIS VIKING COSTUME!"

Everyone removed their hands from their ears after a few seconds. "Just for that outburst _right in my ear_, you'll have to wait until the next town."

"But you said-"

"I never specified which town, mutt. Keep blabbering, and I'll give you back the dog suit instead of your real outfit when we get there."

"I'll be good," he said quickly.

"That's what I thought," I muttered.

"So, let's get supplies," Yugi said, obviously trying to change the mood of the room.

Kisara was the first out the door, followed by Yugi and Wheeler. I stayed behind for just about ten seconds, remembering the very crucial things they were leaving behind.

"YOU COMING, RICH BOY?"

"I can't carry supplies without a pack. And I would suggest having money before buying anything," I held up the four packs and wallets. "And I'm pleasantly surprised by the large amount of money in them."

"Is that why we did housework?" Yugi asked.

I nodded.

"Gimme my money," Wheeler made a grab for his wallet but missed and fell flat on his face.

"Under normal circumstances, I would have you arrested for assault. Since there are no police here, instead I can beat you to a pulp without worrying about the consequences."

"Dat's funny, Kaiba. How many street fights have you been in?"

"Oh, you're living on the streets now, fighting over rights for dumpster diving?"

Wheeler flushed and curled his fist, prompting Yugi to try to hold him back. Honestly, did Yugi think he could hold Wheeler back when he wasn't even half his size?

"Can we get going already?" Kisara asked.

"Yeah. I'm okay if we ditch Wheeler."

"Joey, calm down and let's go," Yugi was still holding him back. "What if Mai saw you like this?"

There was a shocking change in Wheeler's demeanor. He went from aggressive to sad and subdued in less than two seconds.

"Mai," I barely heard him choke the word.

"Mai?" Kisara asked softly.

"Wheeler likes Mai Valentine, who's way out of his league. Things ended badly between them," I said, thinking of how Critias responded to Hermos's sorrow when Joey lost his soul in a duel against Mai.

"Oh." She obviously had no clue what happened between them. It seemed Pegasus didn't want his employees to know what happened with the Orichalcos. Not that Pegasus had much of a soul to lose in the first place.

"Let's just go," Wheeler moaned as we set off.

"Will Joey be alright?" Kisara whispered to me.

"Probably. Show him some food and he'll be as annoying as ever."

"What?" Yugi joined in our conversation.

"She's worried about Wheeler."

"He'll be okay. I hate using Mai against him, but Joey would get madder if he wasn't out of it like he is now. Something's up with you, Kaiba, and I want to know what."

"There's nothing going on, Yugi. Stop being so paranoid."

"Where are we headed anyway?" Kisara asked.

"I don't know."

"But it's your game, right? Shouldn't you know everything about it?" Yugi asked.

"Pegasus and his employees may or may not have tweaked the system a bit. I don't know that I can trust what I had planned for the game."

Yugi was smarter than I gave him credit. He asked, "Something's wrong with this world. There's a glitch. I just know it."

I sighed. "Yes."

"Then why didn't you fix it before you brought Joey and I to be beta testers?"

"It was too dangerous," Kisara answered for me.

"Dangerous?"

"I said this was a rescue mission."

"Mokuba's trapped inside!" Yugi exclaimed, horrified.

"Yes."

"As well as my little sister, Kris," Kisara said.

"You didn't want to hurt them."

I nodded.

"Mr. Kaiba must have realized the best way to rescue them was to bring the top duelists into the world to save them," Kisara said.

"So what do you know about this glitch?" Yugi asked.

"It's Toon World."

"_Pegasus_ put in the glitch?"

"He created Toon World, but it was too glitchy to add immediately, so he made a backup file to fix later and deleted Toon World. Apparently, one of his employees named Ash Kai was fired for hacking and re-entered Toon World into the system as retaliation. Mokuba and Kris Frost were testing it right when Kai re-uploaded it. They're trapped, and I want to save them if I can."

"I think we should tell Joey," Kisara said.

"I don't think we'll get through to him for a while," Yugi said. "If he weren't out of it like he is now, he would have exploded with the conversation we were just having. You should tell him yourself."

"The only thing that would make the situation worse would be for Noah to show up," I said.

"There's still good in him, Kaiba. You just refuse to see it."

I scoffed.

"Did you forget how he saved us from your stepfather at the very end?" Yugi asked.

"DON'T MENTION THAT GORGON SPAWN IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR MIND WHILE YOU'RE STILL UPLOADED TO MY VIRTUAL WORLD."

I was so loud that the innocent bystanders stared and Wheeler snapped out of his stupor.

"Let's just get going, everyone," Kisara tried to ease the tension.

"Fine. Here are your packs and wallets. Do _not_ lose them," I set off, prompting everyone else to take off trying to keep up.

"Slow down, Kaiba. I have short legs," Yugi said, panting after a while.

"Me too," Kisara said.

"Where are we goin', Rich Boy?" Wheeler finally spoke.

"Marketplace," I said curtly.

"Yay! I can finally buy some better clothes than this stupid animal skin!" Wheeler continued, pumping his fist in the air and hitting one of the horns on his helmet. He winced and massaged his knuckles.

"No. We're not getting clothes to be fashionable, though in your case, Wheeler, nothing would make you look good."

"Watch it, Kaiba."

"But we are getting clothes?" Kisara asked.

"Get durable clothes and jackets and nice, sturdy boots. Get sleeping bags and blankets. Then get non-perishable foods and waterskins. And don't spend all your money," I said.

"Are we gonna be camping?" Wheeler asked.

"No. We're going to stay in five-star hotels conveniently located in the middle of the woods every night we're in this world."

"Really?"

"_No._"

"Will we need tents?" Yugi asked.

"One person needs to get a big one."

"What kind of food?" Kisara asked.

"Dried fruits and vegetables, bread, cheese, and nuts. Don't get fresh fruit or meat. We can get those while we're travelling. And remember. Pack light."

"You seem to know a lot about camping," Yugi said.

"My dad took me and Mokuba camping when we were younger. I still remember a lot of what he taught me."

"Gozaburo?"

"No. My real dad."

I remembered his raven-colored hair and smoky purple eyes. He resembled a taller Mokuba with shorter hair. He was extremely intelligent – my sheer genius had to come from somewhere. He had taught me to read when I was two, and I was writing by age three. My father had worked as a neurosurgeon before he died in the car accident when I was eight. He spent all his spare time with my mother and me before she died giving birth to Mokuba. He switched his time and energy to Mokuba, and I believe now that he saw her in him, which allowed him to get past his grief.

Mother was very funny and jovial; she could make anyone laugh. Mokuba's personality resembled hers a lot. She was medium height with wavy brown hair and my blue eyes. She was also highly intelligent.

"…Kaiba… to Kaiba… Earth to Kaiba."

I realized I was just standing there. "Get moving. The sooner we're out of here, the better."

"You keep saying that," Wheeler said. "Are we actually going or not?"

"Just get supplies. Yugi and Wheeler, you're sticking together. I'll stay with Kisara and get other supplies. I can't tolerate you right now, Wheeler."

"Fine," we split up as Wheeler immaturely stuck his tongue out at me.

"Also, the general store has good prices, but if you go to individual booths in the marketplace, you can find items for better prices. We'll meet at the fountain," I called out to them.

"Thanks, Kaiba," Yugi said. I noticed that Wheeler was dragging Yugi to a clothing store.

_Figures._

"We'd better stock up on food. Knowing Wheeler, he'll blow his coins on ridiculous clothing and not have nearly enough food," I said to Kisara.

She giggled shyly.

The marketplace vendors had a wider variety of food than I had realized. It was difficult determining what to get. In the end, I bought a lot of MRE's, cans of soup, crackers, dried berries, and cheese. I decided that bread would harden and grow mold too quickly for it to be reasonable to stock up on it. Kisara had a wide selection of dried fruit as well as vegetable chips; she did buy a few MRE's, nuts, and candy.

Satisfied with our purchases, we left the food stalls and went to the specialty booths. I bought a few cheap healing and mana-restoring potions as well as matches, a pocketknife, and a first-aid kit. Then we went to the clothing store. I bought three dragonhide shirts, two pairs of dragonhide pants, and dragonhide boots; I bought a thick jacket made of dragonhide lined in chinchilla fur. I debated whether or not to get a cape made of dragon scales, but I decided to save my money instead; I already spent more on the dragonhide clothes than I wanted to.

Kisara and I walked over to the fountain to watch the clouds while we were waiting for Yugi and Wheeler. After a while, Wheeler and Yugi showed up. Wheeler was wearing a suit of armor.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE WEARING?" I yelled at Wheeler.

"Armor. Pretty sweet, huh?"

"How much did you spend on that?"

"3000 coins."

"3000 coins? That was more than half of your money, you idiot! Do you even have enough money for food?"

"We got food first. Did you get a tent?" Yugi asked.

"No. I'll grab one," I said.

"I'll go with you," Kisara said.

I sincerely hoped she wouldn't turn out to be like my fangirls, making excuses just to be near me. As an April Fool's joke, Mokuba had emailed me links to a couple Seto Kaiba Fan Club websites. It scarred me for life, so I locked up all the sweets in our mansion in retaliation. Thinking back on it, I think seeing those websites and really bad Photoshops scared Mokuba as much as they scared me.

Kisara didn't strike me as a crazy fangirl, but she was sticking to me like glue.

"You keep following me," I commented.

She blushed. "I'm sorry. I'll go back."

I felt a streak of guilt.

"I was just commenting on it. You don't have to go."

I mentally slapped myself. _What are you thinking?_

"No, I'll go," she said.

"No, you should stay."

_Think fast, don't appear too soft._

"We don't need the mutt to slobber all over you. I'm not even sure if he's housetrained or not," I finished.

_Nice save._

She giggled and stayed beside me.

"Why do you keep calling him a mutt?" she asked.

"It's a long story."

We dropped the conversation as we watched a dog scratch on the window of the butcher shop.

I smirked at the dog. "How did Wheeler get ahead of us?"

Kisara laughed. I didn't normally judge other's laughs, but her warm and bright laugh made me want to smile. Not that I did. When she stopped laughing, she pointed at a store and said, "Here we are."

I looked and saw an army surplus store. Perfect.

The shopkeeper was happy to recommend some tents big enough for four people. In the end, we settled on a camouflage tent with two doors and several waterskins. It was when we were walking out that Kisara finally worked up the guts to tell me something that was bothering her.

"Um… Mr. Kaiba?"

"Yeah?"

"Um… I… I'm a girl."

"I noticed," I said hesitatantly.

"And… everyone else is a boy."

Understanding flooded into me. She was uncomfortable sharing a tent with three men. I felt an unusual sensation when I realized this, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was for a long time. It was protectiveness just as strong as I felt for Mokuba.

"I see. Do you want to go back and get another tent?"

"I'll just deal with it," she said quickly.

"No. I wouldn't want to share a tent with that inbred mongrel, either."

I saw a ghost of a smile on her face, but she still looked very uncomfortable.

"I'll grab another tent for you. I forgot to get blankets and sleeping bags, anyway."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Kaiba."

We bought the said items and made our way to the fountain to meet up with Wheeler and Yugi.

What we didn't see was the six-year old boy trailing us from a large distance.

**I'm so sorry for not updating sooner. I've been working on an original novel that I actually want to publish, so that's been my priority lately. I figured that I would update this one first because people are more interested in Game On than Slip Up. **

**I know reading about shopping was probably boring you and that a lot of this was filler, but I ended up adding some of the plot elements in this chapter sooner than I was originally planning to make up for it. Yugi wasn't going to find out about Mokuba and Kris being imprisoned until a lot later. **

**And yes, I used the cliffhanger to keep you interested. Review, please! :D**


End file.
